The BearingPoint Digital Leaders Study 2020 shows that Dutch companies have improved their digital maturity over the years. Still, there are areas that need attention to keep up with customers’ high demands. Digital customer interaction should exist at the core of the company’s business models to stay ahead of competitors. The gap between the top-performers, that excel in their digital businesses, and the low-performers, that fall behind, is increasing. The winning digital leaders understand how to keep things small to increase speed, just start moving by using what is available, strip out dependencies, and create more impact after all by doing so.

It becomes clear that the main digital transformation challenges are less in the field of technology, and more in the field of people’s competencies, mindset and culture. It brings a positive view towards the future: not only start-ups, but also corporates will start to make bold moves to position themselves for a new era of growth and sustainable value for their customers.

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Now Digital has become the ‘new normal’, the challenge is to remove the last – often non-technological – barriers to become a truly customer centric and data-driven form. This includes a company culture that embraces experimentation, customer centricity and radical innovation.

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Key research findings per research dimension

• Dutch companies perform best on digital product experience, with an average of 3.4 (on a scale of 5). The digital maturity is seen in their omni-channel strategies, as almost all companies have mobile-optimized and responsive sites that scale to tablets and mobile phones.
• On the e-commerce dimension, Dutch companies receive a sufficient grade (2.9). Only 17% of the companies use chatbots in sales support service, which is an effective tool and could help to increase the score next year.
• Dutch companies perform sufficiently on the e-CRM dimension, with a score of 2.3. Room for improvement exists; only 37% of the companies respond to e-mails within 2 business days and some even fail to respond within a month’s time.
• The digital marketing dimension is where the companies struggle on, as they receive a poor 1.9 grade. Social media shows plenty of potential: just 17% uses Instagram as an advertising tool.

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